March 19, 2013

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Microelectromechanical components magnified 700X.

10-4
MAGNITUDE0.000,1 m
100 Micrometers

Microelectromechanical Systems

200 Micrometers

The “human” scale begins with the micrometer, and nothing says human like machines — in this case, very, very small machines. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are the technology of tiny mechanical devices.

MEMS consist of components 1 to 100 micrometers in size (0.001 to 0.1 mm), with the larger devices ranging between 20 micrometers to a millimeter. They include a central unit that processes data and several components that interact with the outside world, such as microsensors.

MEMS became practical once they could be fabricated using modified semiconductor fabrication technologies, and include applications like accelerometers in cars, video game controllers, and cell phones as well as microphones in portable devices.

Think about it. These things are only 10 times the size of a grain of sand.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.

Comments

I work out of our office on One Market Street in San Francisco. My standup-desk is right across from our Gallery at One Market. One of our newer exhibits is called Powers of Design. It was first featured at the Technology Entertainment & Design (TED) conference last year. Powers of Design depicts the size of everything from the inconceivably small to the mind-blowingly large. I thought I'd cover the exhibit elements, one at a time, over the next few months. I started small and am working my way up.

Microelectromechanical components magnified 700X.

10-4
MAGNITUDE0.000,1 m
100 Micrometers

Microelectromechanical Systems

200 Micrometers

The “human” scale begins with the micrometer, and nothing says human like machines — in this case, very, very small machines. Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are the technology of tiny mechanical devices.

MEMS consist of components 1 to 100 micrometers in size (0.001 to 0.1 mm), with the larger devices ranging between 20 micrometers to a millimeter. They include a central unit that processes data and several components that interact with the outside world, such as microsensors.

MEMS became practical once they could be fabricated using modified semiconductor fabrication technologies, and include applications like accelerometers in cars, video game controllers, and cell phones as well as microphones in portable devices.

Think about it. These things are only 10 times the size of a grain of sand.

Thanks to Global Content Manager, Matt Tierney, for the images and text that comprise the exhibit element. This is just one of the many exhibits in the gallery at One Market in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on Wednesdays from 12 pm to 5 pm, and admission is free. Visit us.